The former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and his son former Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal filed an anticipatory bail pleas in Faridkot district court in connection with the 2015 Kotkapura police firing case.
The Punjab Police SIT, led by ADGP LK Yadav, filed a chargesheet in a Faridkot court on February 24, accusing former CM Parkash Singh Badal, his son and deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, and six police officers, including then-Punjab police chief Sumedh Singh Saini.
Following the filing of the chargesheet, the Faridkot judicial magistrate ordered all eight suspects to appear in court on March 23.
In the bail appeal, Badals claimed that this matter had become politicised and that the Punjab and Haryana high court had previously dismissed an investigation carried out by the then IGP Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh on similar reasons.
Additionally, they claimed that the state government and SIT disregarded the instructions granted by the HC in 2021 by invalidating earlier SIT investigations.
What is the Kotkapura Firing Case?
The Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from Gurdwara Burj Jawahar Singh Wala in Kotkapura constituency of Faridkot district on June 1, 2015, prompting a number of demonstrations and calls for the authorities to swiftly identify the offender.
In the Bargari village of Kotkapura, posters with disparaging words regarding the Guru Granth Sahib and a few Sikh holy gurus were painted on the walls of homes on September 24 and 25, despite the fact that the case could not be investigated.
Also, the posters were affixed to the wall next to the Bargari village’s gurdwara. Following this, another incident occurred on October 12, 2015, when torn pages of the Guru Granth Sahib were discovered in the streets of Bargari village. In response, a dharna was organised on the Kotkapura Chowk, calling for the then-SAD-BJP government to take action to apprehend those responsible.
In the first week of October at Kotkapura, the demonstrators also spoke with Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was then the deputy chief minister. However, on October 14, 2015, a fire and lathicharge took place, inflicting minor injuries on a few people, in an effort to scatter the protestors from the Kotkapura Chowk. In order to disperse yet another group of protesters, this was followed by shootings at the village of Behbal Kalan that same day, in which two people: Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjeet Singh were killed. Following these events, major protests broke out throughout Punjab for a few days, and demonstrators shut down most of the state’s highways.
Soon after, the SAD-BJP government constituted a SIT led by then-ADGP IPS Sahota, who had blamed the incidents on foreign handlers. On November 30, 2015, a new SIT led by IG Ranbir Singh Khattra was constituted to investigate the Kotkapura firing case, while the CBI was given over the sacrilege cases of Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala. Nevertheless, after a decision in the Punjab legislative Assembly in September 2018, the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress administration withdrew this probe from the CBI.
In May 2018, the Congress government constituted another SIT chaired by then-ADGP Prabodh Kumar, with IG Kunwar Vijay Partap among its members. According to the Partap SIT investigation, the sacrilege acts were the work of Sukhbir Badal, Sumedh Saini, and the chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda. However, his report was overturned by the high court, prompting Captain Amarinder Singh to constitute a new SIT. During the probe, the Yadav-led SIT questioned Sukhbir Badal and Parkash Singh Badal.
